Cold chases some Philly Zoo animals inside

About Aaron Moselle

Aaron Moselle is a general assignment reporter for NewsWorks, filing stories for both web and radio.

While you can find him at the courthouse or a school funding rally, he also spends a good chunk of his time writing about issues in Northwest Philadelphia, where he was born and raised. (Yes. Mount Airy is part of the city.)

Before arriving at WHYY in 2010, Aaron was a freelance writer for a collection of community newspapers and alternative weeklies.

He still can't get over the fact that he can walk to so many sights and sounds from his home base in South Philly.

Below-freezing temperatures this week have left many Philadelphians thinking twice before heading outside. That includes some of the animals at the city's zoo.

When the mercury dips into the single digits, some species just can't hack it and opt to keep warm indoors.

"Many of the animals, physiologically, aren't equipped to handle this cold weather," said Tammy Schmidt, The Philadelphia Zoo's curator of carnivores. "As an example, our hippos, they have hair, but they have more exposed skin than they do covering them."

Giraffes and rhinoceros are also on the list of animals not built to hang outside when the ground is frozen.

But others, such as the polar bears and snow leopards, can't get enough of the cold.

"It's their temperature range," said Schmidt. "They can handle any weather, but they're made for this. They have fur between their toes and they have nice insulated fur coats."

The Philadelphia Zoo is home to approximately 1,300 animals. Only a small percentage of the zoo's outdoor animals have stayed inside this week.

Your browser is out-of-date!

Some features of this website (and others) may not work correctly with Internet Explorer 8 and below. Click below and we'll show you your upgrade options (they're free). -your friends at NewsWorks. Update my browser now